Quietly Into that Long Eternal Night
by Anguirus111
Summary: We all have to conquer our inner demons. But for two Time Lords in the midst of a Time War, it may prove to be insurmountable. But for the Doctor and the Master they must because if they don't...
1. The Doctor

A/N: This is an all likelihood a one shot. I'm sort of torn over making a second chapter follow up but I find myself increasingly doubtful that I'll make it. Anyway, this just occurred to me one day and when I went reading through the other stories here about The Master I ran across Tea Break by Margaret Price. So if the idea of having the Master and the Doctor just chat without the world about to end appeals to you, I'd recommend reading that one as well.

Far beyond the reaches of Earth lay worlds of unimaginable size and scope. Entire civilizations existed, some for longer than the Earth had been spinning the cosmos, others spanning more planets than anyone on the blue planet could possibly hope to reach, and still others were nearly exact copies of that world. There were cosmic wonders out there as well, from black holes, to nebulas, to things that were beyond any earthly description.

But for all its wonder and all of its awe, there were some things sadly that did not change. Famine existed, the rich still got richer and the poor poorer, someone was exploited, someone was murdered, someone else was robbed, and the cycle continued. But perhaps the universe's worst invention was still very much apparent even out here amongst the stars where everyone should have had more than enough to keep themselves happy. War.

War was perhaps the one constant in this universe where nothing else possibly could be. War was a simple concept; destroy the enemy that was it. Stop them before they stopped you and then reap whatever rewards were left over…if there were any.

Numerous civilizations had waged war across this universe throughout its history. The war between the Sonatarans and the Rutan Hosts was perhaps the most prominent example as they had been warring for longer than anyone could remember and it had devastated numerous planets across the cosmos. The humans too had gotten into their own war with their sister species the Mondasians after that species had turned itself into Cybermen. They had fought until the late 29th Century when the Cybermen had been seemingly wiped out, though rumors and legends still persisted that they had survived in some shape or form.

But these wars were largely small and confined to only a few hundred of planets. To some this would seem like a lot but not to others, and not with what was to come. Because though numerous civilizations rose to unimaginable heights and fell from power, two were always miles above the rest.

One was an extremely passive species merely content to let the universe runs its course free of their interference. The other an extremely aggressive species whose only intent was to conquer the universe and leave it the only species left alive. Though it might seem that these two, with their seemingly polar opposite philosophies, would immediately run headlong into each other, they didn't. The reasons for this were never very clear. Some suspected the passive specie believed itself far too superior for the aggressive specie to be of any threat. Others suspected the opposite; that they knew they were no match for the other and any war with them would only serve to wipe them out. As for the aggressive species, it was anyone's guess why they did not attack the other. Suspicion was that aside from rumors, the aggressive species had little to no knowledge of the other. Still more supposed that the aggressive species was just biding its time to grow strong enough to defeat the other. At any rate, they stayed well away from each other…mostly.

One member of the passive species did not harbor whatever other thoughts his species did about the more aggressive one. He knew the aggressive species perhaps better than anyone in the known galaxy. They were one of the first species he had ever encountered on his journeys and they had been one of the few he encountered on a consistent basis. The two had clashed across space and time and left a swath of devastation and destruction in their wake. His actions perhaps had two consequences. It had finally tipped off his race that to sit by and watch these creatures continue their rampage across everything that got in their way was no longer a viable option. It also had the unintended consequence of giving the more aggressive species more than enough knowledge of the more passive one to begin drawing plans against them. Especially after the passive race attempted to and failed to prevent their creation.

And so a Cold War of sorts occurred with minor skirmishes here and there throughout reality. The aggressive species soon got involved in a war with a lesser one and though they had put up a fight the lesser species was wiped out in the end. And then there was nothing left between them. For the Daleks and the Time Lords, time and space had run out for both of them

And so the Time War erupted. Worlds crumbled, cities exploded, a whirlwind of devastation, a firestorm of fear. Entire civilizations were wiped off the map, the Autons and the Nestene Consciousness were some of the first to go but they were by no means the last. The Sontarans and the Rutan Hosts actually managed to put aside their differences and put up a unified defense when the war threatened their worlds but their noble efforts were in vain when the War claimed their planets anyway and sent both species into hiding if not extinction. The only species that managed to put up any sort of prolonged defense against the two warring species were the Cybermen and for a brief time, no more than a few thousand years, the war took on a triangular form with three combatants. But the Cybermen fell like all the rest did. And the war continued unabated.

The individual who had first brought the Daleks to the attention of his species too fought in the war. Normally a pacifist by nature, the Daleks always brought out the worst in him. He hated them with a passion and it had driven him to make seemingly irrational decisions in order to stop them. He had destroyed their homeworld, he had brought about the destruction of their creator, and he had taken up arms against them when the war commenced.

But he had also failed in destroying them at the moment of their creation. He had vainly believed then that they were worth saving, that something good could come from their existence. It had not taken him long to realize the folly of that idea and so it was a decision that continued to haunt him as the War dragged on. How many more species had been lost, how many planets had he once known that no longer continued to exist? He didn't know; all he knew was that more were to come and there was nothing he could do to stop it. There was no possible way this war could end without something terrible happening that could not be reversed. It burned him inside to know this and it was here that he found himself sitting on a grassy hill just below his spaceship, his TARDIS, trying to enjoy a moment's peace during a rare lull in the fighting and collect his thoughts.

The sky was blue, white fluffy clouds hung in the air as birds chirped and fluttered about amongst the trees behind him as the sun shone down warming the air. It looked like his favorite planet, Earth, on a normal day. But in front of him the story was much much different. A city lay in front of him, a city that was burning with smoke rising high into the air. The buildings were on fire, large craters marked the surface around it, and no sounds emerged from it. Indeed, the grass ended just beyond him at the base of the hill and turned to scorched ground.

And so this doctor, The Doctor, sat contemplating his life, or lives, he'd had seven of them and was now on his eighth which he strongly suspected would be his last. A mass of conflicting thoughts raged in his head with no possible release. He used to have companions to talk things out with, but with the War he knew he could no longer afford to put their lives at risk. Trillions were dying every day and the Doctor knew that whoever traveled with him would not be alive for very long. And so he traveled alone, a lonely god out amongst the dangerous cosmos.

He was so deep in thought that the sound that was almost like wheezing was heard behind him as if some centrifuge was constantly spinning around almost escaped his notice. Using his peripheral vision, he saw an automobile appear that founds its origins on Earth. A black Lamborghini materialized and the Doctor eyed it curiously before one of the doors swung open and an individual climbed out all dressed in black. The Doctor turned his head away and chuckled to himself as he shook his head.

"Greetings Doctor," said the man standing next to him. The Doctor looked up at the fellow Time Lord who in stark contrast to the Doctor looked like the master of all the domains he surveyed.

"_Maybe that's where he got the name from_," the Doctor thought mildly amused. "Well, well, well, look what the 'cat' dragged in."

The Master growled softly as he rubbed his black gloved hand down his face as the Doctor began laughing to himself.

"Much to your disappointment I am sure, but I am no longer afflicted with that feline contamination, that accursed Cheetah Virus," commented the Master.

"Oh and here I was so looking forward to the day when I would be fetching you saucers of milk for breakfast," lightly goaded the Doctor smiling broadly as he desperately tried to contain his laughter. The Master's scowl worsened before he decided it wasn't worth brooding over and his face returned to a more neutral one though with still a slight downturn of the mouth.

"So whose body did you steal this time?" inquired the Doctor. "It wasn't anybody I knew was it?"

"On the contrary this is my own body," said the fellow Time Lord patting himself down. The Master looked at himself, admiring his new form. It was somewhat a mix of the forms he had had when he first bothered his fellow time lord and the body he had stolen from one of the Doctor's companion's parent when he had been on the verge of dying. It certainly was better than the body of that Ambulance Driver that had failed him and gotten him sucked into the Eye of Harmony during their last encounter.

"Come now, it's awfully late for jokes," quipped the Doctor not believing him.

"I'm not joking," stated the Master. "When the High Council succeeded in removing my body from the Eye of Harmony, they also managed to restore my original form and then grant me more regenerations on a trial basis of which this is the first."

"And why would they do that?" inquired the Doctor. He had caught wind of the High Council's intent to free him from the Eye but that was all he had gleaned from his sources back on Gallifrey. His old companion and dear friend Romana was the Lady President of the High Council, true, but throughout the war she had become more and more distant even to the point of rebuking his attempts to visit her. And so it took the appearance of the Master to finally confirm that the rumors were true and the Council had gone ahead with the plan.

"Is it not obvious?" stated the other Time Lord waving his hand at the devastation. "We are at war and they need all the assistance they can get. And let us not kid ourselves Doctor I am one of the smartest Time Lords, if not people, in the universe."

"And so modest too," said the Doctor dryly as he rolled his eyes. The Master narrowed his eyes at that before letting it go as well.

"So what are you here for if not to provide me ample opportunity to antagonize you?" inquired the Doctor. He produced an apple and began chewing down on it waiting for the answer.

"First Doctor may I applaud you on your decision to eat more healthy by choosing fruits instead of your jelly babies, perhaps you are finally letting go of your childish ways," commented the Master wryly. "And to properly answer your question I am now working on behalf of the Council to try and combat the Dalek menace. Hopefully you will believe me this time around unlike before when your fifth self left me to die at the hands of those Cybermen back in the Death Zone on Gallifrey."

"I already apologized to you for that but in my defense it's not like you wouldn't have done the same. The difference being you would have known better," commented the Doctor. The Master nodded.

"Regardless, I am here to inform you that the High Council requires your presence on Gallifrey to give you new orders," answered the Master. The Doctor sighed deeply at that and looked at the damaged city with saddened eyes.

"Then you can return and inform them that I shall be along shortly," responded the Time Lord defeated. The Master looked at the Doctor with slight concern at his tone and expression.

"Are you…alright?" asked the Master cautiously. He was never one to care for another's wellbeing, but then he had never seen the Doctor like this before. Usually even in the worst of circumstances the Time Lord had an irritating streak of maintaining at least some optimism despite the Master's plans. But now…now he seemed totally defeated and it disturbed him greatly.

"DO I LOOK ALRIGHT TO YOU?" the Doctor suddenly shouted causing the Master to jump, startled. The Doctor looked away.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that," he apologized ashamed. The Master softly sighed.

"Doctor if you have something on your mind you may as well get it out in the open now rather than later," stated the Master. The Doctor knew he was right but still he always assumed if he'd be opening up to someone the last person on his mind would've been who was with him now.

"I realize I may not be able to offer you much consolation," admitted the Master no doubt guessing what was going through the Doctor's mind at the moment. "But at least getting your concerns out into the open might help your at least recognize them."

The Doctor laughed. "I didn't realize you were a master at psychology."

"I am many things Doctor," was all that the Master said in response to that. The Doctor nodded.

"A fact I'm well aware of," he agreed before hitting his hand on the ground next to him. "Why don't you sit down, take a load off."

The Master looked at the regular ground reluctantly. He was an all powerful Time Lord and beyond the normal pitiful individuals who would sit on the ground for no reason whatsoever. But to humor the Doctor he sat down and it seemed as if a shift occurred where they weren't just two enemies but merely two individuals sitting on a hill that didn't have the whole weight of the universe on their shoulders.

"I miss the clock," stated the Doctor out of the blue.

"The what?" asked the Master confused. The Doctor jerked his head back at the Master's TARDIS.

"I miss when that thing looked like a clock. That way it was at least partially useful," explained the Time Lord. "That way even when I had to deal with you, at least I always knew what time it was."

The Master laughed at that. "Yes I too miss the clock. It was certainly more elegant than that bland stone pillar."

"Yes why did you change the outward appearance of your TARDIS?" the Doctor asked.

"It was not by choice I assure you. My TARDIS decided to emulate yours for a time when my chameleon circuit also stopped working though unlike you I did manage to fix mine," said the Master pleased with himself. The Doctor snorted.

"Well unlike you I've come to rather like the shape it's in now," said the Doctor proudly. As if in response to his enthusiasm, an explosion from the city briefly rocked the ground causing the Doctor's TARDIS to tip over and crash down on its back.

"I see," commented the Master looking behind him. The Doctor held his head with his hand in shame. "But I can only assume this is not the cause of your problems. Though, if you were to rid yourself of that contraption, I would hardly complain."

"I'll bet you wouldn't," said the Doctor darkly before sighing and looking at the devastation before him and sighing once more. The Master too looked at the devastation and then both sat there watching the city burn.

"We're not going to make it," stated the Doctor breaking the silence as the Master turned to face him. "The Time Lords, I mean. We're…we're not going to survive. Soon we'll just be the stuff of legends and nothing more. In a few years this universe will no longer even acknowledge that we ever existed. And everything that we've done, all the good that we've accomplished, and the evil, will no longer matter."

"Is that what you're so concerned about?" asked the Master emulating annoyance as he tried to brush off the Doctor's comments while also trying to brush off his own doubts. "Soon the Daleks will be rid of and then we shall return to our game of me causing trouble and you trying to stop me."

"And just what is the word from the front?" asked the Doctor knowing fully well the truth. The Master turned away from him.

"You have your good days and your bad ones," was all he said. The Doctor shook his head in pity.

"Haven't you noticed that it's been consistently bad now for the past several skirmishes?" inquired the Doctor. "Haven't you noticed that we no longer have made any significant advances into Dalek territory? A good day is when we don't loose any ground for Rassilon's sake! We're loosing this war! And that's why you're here because they would not have released you if they didn't have a choice."

"And so what if we are loosing this war?" demanded the Master. "Are you just going to give up like that, turn and run? Is that going to make things better? What are you going to do about it Doctor? You claim to be the end all when it comes to matters concerning the Daleks as well as what to do in situations like this, so what's your decision?"

"I don't know!" shouted the Doctor holding his head with his hands and rocking back and forth. "I don't have all the answers!"

"Well congratulations Doctor you've become just like one of your pitiful humans," said the Master antagonizing him. "But I don't see them giving up just because the 'going got tough' as they say. If you can't then they're better than you and if that's true and you've still managed to defeat me time and time again then that makes me worse than a human. If that's how it is then I'll kill you right now! I'm not going to have a defeatist for a-"

The Master suddenly stopped himself and shuddered. "I just won't," he swore.

The Doctor laughed mildly again before he quieted down.

"I hate the Daleks," he swore. The Master nodded.

"Join the club," he said. "It's strange that after all your encounters with them I was the one who got exterminated in the end."

"Fate," said the Doctor with a smirk. "Or else the universe has a strange sense of humor."

"I believe in neither," said the Master with an air of superiority. Silence descended on the two again as the city's fires began to slowly die down.

"I don't suppose you have anything you want to get off _your_ chest?" inquired the Doctor. The Master looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"No, I don't," he stated crossing his arms. The Doctor nodded his head silently in acceptance. After a few moments of quiet, the Master finally sighed and then groaned despite himself before he turned to face the Doctor.

"Do you hate me?" he asked bluntly.

The Doctor blinked at that. "What?"

"Do you hate me?" repeated the Master. "I just wanted to know in case one of us…"

"I don't hate you," answered the Doctor shaking his head. "I pity you. I just wish you didn't do the things that you have or will do. But I will save you, I promise you. Then it'll be like the old days when we used to travel the cosmos in my TARDIS encountering all those worlds and peoples. I miss those days."

"As do I," admitted the Master reluctantly. "But you won't be able to save me Doctor. In fact the day will come when you will have to kill me for the greater good."

"I won't make that choice," said the Doctor angrily. "You still can be-."

"Doctor!" interceded the Master. "I am not someone suffering from delusions or a mental trauma. I rationally made my choice a long time ago and I don't regret it. You will just have to accept that. Do not delude yourself under some misguided notion of-."

"It's not misguided!" shouted the Doctor throwing up his arms for emphasis. "The human's have a saying: 'blood is thicker than water' and they're right you know. Why have you always come to my rescue when I've been on the verge of defeat? You didn't have to save me when the Time Lords put me on trial all these years ago but you did! Why? How is that rationally in line with your ways of thinking?"

The Master scratched the back of his head to delay answering.

"I don't know," he confessed finally. "And it's been bothering me for quite awhile."

"The truth is that there are some things even us Time Lords cannot explain," answered the Doctor. "That's just the way it is. We can't control everything."

The Doctor appeared thoughtful at that statement.

"Thank you old friend," he commented softly. "You may have given me more to think about than you realize."

"All part of my plan," commented the Master with an evil grin across his face. The Doctor rolled his eyes at that.

"Oh come now!" he scoffed. "You didn't have any plan!"

The Master's smile widened and began a more evil grin. "As a poet on your favorite planet Earth once said: 'Theirs not to make reply, there's not…"

"…To reason why," picked up the Doctor. "Theirs but to do and die."

"Into the Valley of Death rode the six hundred," they both finished together.

"Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 'The Charge of the Light Brigade'," finished the Doctor nodding his head. "I didn't know you were one for poetry, just mad ravings."

"It seemed poignant given what happened here and what is yet to come," answered the Master. But before he could say anymore, a device on his wrist beeped.

"The High Council awaits," said the Master looking at the wrist communicator. The Doctor frowned at that.

"And here we were having such a nice heart to heart," he intentionally lamented to the Master's dismay, before the Doctor began laughing.

"You shall pay for that comment Doctor," was all the Master said to that.

"I'll bet," commented the Doctor lightly. The two slowly picked themselves up off of the ground and took one last glance at the city where the fires had nearly receded and then both made their way to their TARDIS.

"Do you know that plural of TARDIS is?" inquired the Doctor curious. The Master stopped in his tracks.

"Don't start with me," he warned. The Doctor chuckled.

"Sorry," he apologized. "But I wonder if you'll at least do me one favor."

"I'm not going to like this am I?" said the Master as the Doctor approached him.

"No," commented the Doctor shaking his head. He opened up his arms and hugged the other Time Lord. The Doctor sat there clasped to the Master for several moments as the other Time Lord decided what to do. Finally giving in despite his best attempts not to, the Master slowly put his arms around the Doctor and hugged him too. Finally the Doctor let go and the two stepped apart.

"I'm sorry," apologized the Doctor greatly. "It's just…I don't know if I'll ever get the chance to do that again. And if I'd done it any other time you would've killed me."

"I may still kill you for just this," admitted the Master frankly before amending. "But we'll see."

"I just don't know what came over me," admitted the Doctor patting himself down. "This incarnation just seems more emotionally needy than the rest."

"Yes I've noticed," commented the Master. "You even kissed that human doctor, Grace I think her name was, and I've never seen you do that before to a companion."

"It's strange I will admit," said the Doctor. "Knowing my luck I'll be wearing nothing but leather and be a complete lone bad wolf in my next regeneration."

"Wouldn't bother me," stated the Master. "Though let's keep it so I'm the one who wears black in this family."

"No promises," commented the Doctor lightly. He then looked at his fallen over TARDIS and then to the Master.

"I don't suppose you'll help me set this upright?" he asked vainly. The Master shook his head.

"Unfortunately for you, a laborer is not one of those many things I brought up earlier," commented the Master with a smirk. The Doctor nodded as the other Time Lord prepared to board his own TARDIS.

"So just out of curiosity, who decided to send you after me?" asked the Doctor as he sat on the edge of his TARDIS.

"Your former meddling student," responded the Master. The Doctor smiled to himself.

"Good ol' Romana," said the Time Lord grateful. "She's always watching out for me even with all of her pressing duties."

"Well you can tell her that I do not appreciate being an errand boy and if she ever does something like this again, I will do something about it," commented the Master as he forcibly cracked his knuckles for emphasis. The Doctor nodded.

"I will," he promised. The Master was about to disappear into his Time and Relative Dimension in Space when he turned around.

"One last thing Doctor," he added. "There will come a time in this War when will you have to make a decision of grave consequence and it will be something you will never be able to go back on and will regret for the rest of your life. But when that decision comes, just remember, don't hesitate. When the time comes, just act."

The Doctor opened his mouth to respond but found he couldn't.

"Goodbye old friend," he finally decided on. The Master nodded.

"Goodbye," he said and was nearly into his machine when he finally added. "Brother."

The Doctor grinned at that before he lightly saluted as the Master's TARDIS vanished before flipping over his back and into his TARDIS before it too vanished leaving the city, no longer on fire, behind.

_And so despite all the problems the universe had at the moment, with war, famine, pestilence, poverty, and plagues, perhaps it was not completely without hope. Because for one brief moment, at one time, in one place, two warring brothers found peace._

_Yet still, the Time War raged on, but perhaps that is a story best left for another day…_

A/N: You can flame this if you want, it doesn't matter to me. I just figured between the dialogue of Planet of Fire and Smith and Jones that since the Doctor evidently had a brother, the Master would be the only likely candidate as to who it could be as others have figured as well. I think it went well since I managed to write it exactly how I imagined it which is rare for me.


	2. The Master

A/N: I guess this'll be the second chapter but a third is rather iffy at the moment. I'd recommend catching up or watching Planet of Fire, Trial of a Time Lord: The Ultimate Foe, and Survival before reading this chapter. All three dealt with the Doctor and the Master and it shouldn't be a surprise that I plan on referencing them here. Particularly, The Ultimate Foe. You have to know that story if this chapter makes any sense.

_The home of the Time Lords is a world known throughout the cosmos with whispers of wonder, or shouts of hate, a place known simply as: Gallifrey. The Time Lords did not know if this was the world of their origin or just where their first leader Rassilon chose to inhabit for their species, but it was all that they knew. The world was one of wonders and immense dangers, with orange skies and death filled zones, but it was home nonetheless and the Time Lords would not have it any other way._

_For two Time Lords in particular this world meant more to them than just about any other. For they were both renegades and exiles from this world and so any visit home meant a chance to renew their spirits. One just wanted to return to walk amongst the trees, the other to remind himself of the day he would rule this world. They both loved this world but neither would publicly admit to it, but both vowed that no harm would ever befall this planet_.

Two TARDIS materialized outside the main convocation chambers of the High Council of Gallifrey and its two operators immediately disembarked. A hush fell over everyone nearby and to any who did not know who the two were, they were immediately informed. They may not have been the oldest Time Lords, or perhaps even the most respected, but they were the most legendary. The exploits of the Doctor and the Master were spoken with wonder and awe amongst the hallways of Gallifrey. And it was little wonder for this was a civilization of non-interference. Most Time Lords had never even left Gallifrey much less traveled the universe for 900 plus years. Yet these two had gone and done it anyway and had openly defied the Council on multiple occasions. Their names were almost on par with Rassilon with some and above Rassilon with others and their clashes across time and space were spoken with the same excitement as someone describing the first Time War. It was the idea of seeing these two together that brought many to the Council building in the hopes of catching even a fleeting glance of two gods amongst mere insects in comparison. And so everyone stood at attention as the two walked down the hallways in slight annoyance at the attention being given them.

"If you're all these fools have for a hero Doctor, then I wonder if this planet is even worth lording over," said the Master bemused.

"Funny I was just about to say the same thing," said the Doctor before realization struck. "Though without the 'lording' part. I've been President of this world and believe me when I say it is not worth it."

"For shame Doctor and here I thought you had turned over a new leaf before you made that final bit," commented the Master with a deep grin, with mild malice.

The Doctor sighed wistfully. "Whatever happened to the simpler times when we were just enemies?"

"Times change unfortunately even for Time Lords," said the Master also with a sense of regret as they approached the main doors. "Though perhaps our feelings towards the Council have not."

"Agreed," added the Doctor all business. The two pushed open the doors and stepped in to hear a massive argument amongst the various Council members who were squabbling over seemingly everything related to the War. In the center, a calm yet frustrated President Romana sat there completely overwhelmed by it all. Seeing the Doctor caused her to smile briefly before returning to her passive state. The squabbling was so bad, no one else had noticed the other two's arrival.

"You see Doctor," said the Master waving his arm at the Council. "If I was in charge this is what I would do away with. A bloated bureaucracy has no place determining the affairs of a race as powerful as our own, especially in a situation such as the one we now find ourselves in. These are not esteemed Time Lords, these are squabbling children."

"You may have a point. I guess I was as right during that trial as it is now. 'Decadent, degenerate, and rotten to the core'," agreed the Doctor surprised at them agreeing on something but accepting it as a necessary change. If they couldn't rely on their leaders then they could at least rely on family. The Master cracked his knuckles out of boredom as the Council continued to be oblivious to them. The Doctor for his part took out his Sonic Screwdriver and began looking it over in ways of improving its outward appearance as on too many worlds it got mistaken for a common socket wrench, the ultimate insult to a man of his creative genius.

"Who the devil are you two?" demanded a voice. The Doctor and the Master stopped what they were doing and looked up at the leader of the Council was looking at them irate.

"I said who are you and how did you get in here?" demanded the man evidently oblivious to who they really were. The Doctor turned to the Master.

"Pretentious aren't they," he commented. The Master nodded.

"Yes, if they hope to keep that attitude and still win this war, then they're gravely mistaken," said the fellow Time Lord. The Councilman looked as if he were about to call in security.

"You will obey-," began the man.

"I am the Doctor!" shouted the Doctor, angrily interjecting into the man's statement.

"And I am the Master!" said the Master with just as much malice.

"And _you_ will obey _us_," they shouted pointing to the Council and then to themselves. Romana appeared slightly surprised by the Doctor's attitude but at least it had gotten the Council to be quiet for once.

"How dare-," began the man when suddenly the Master produced a device identical to the Doctor's own sonic screwdriver and aimed it at the man.

"Finish that sentence and it will be your last," said the Master with pure evil in his voice. The Doctor crossed his arms but said nothing. A few moments passed and the Councilman reluctantly backed down.

"Now then," said the Doctor after a few moments of silence had passed. "It has come to our attention that you have been leading this war rather poorly."

"So we are here to rectify that situation," finished the Master putting away his Tissue Compression Eliminator. "And if you don't like it you can leave."

Romana was especially taken aback now. She had never had the opportunity to witness the two brothers ever interact with each other before, but what she had heard had never been anything like this. True the universe was at risk and the Doctor and the Master had been known to work together but never with such harmony as right now. The Master had even threatened the Council and the Doctor had just sat there passively. She had to have a talk with him about this as soon as possible.

"So what is it you want then?" asked the council leader. The Doctor shrugged.

"We don't ask for much, just complete and total control of the war effort with myself in charge and my brother here as my partner," said the Doctor. Romana's eyes bugged out at that, the Doctor referring to the Master in public as his brother and agreeing to have him as a partner? Something was very wrong here, very, very wrong. Maybe sending the Master to retrieve him had been a mistake.

"And none of your meddling interferences unless you plan on participating in the war itself," added the Master. "You are not fit to rule if you are not fit to die."

"You have one full day to decide," said the Doctor as he headed for the exit with the Master.

"And if we don't decide or say no?" asked the Council member. The Master turned to face them.

"Then you had best make peace with Rassilon," he said with pure darkness in his eyes. Then the two Time Lords were gone leaving Council in stunned silence.

"Let me know when you have reached a decision," said Romana heading for the exit as quickly as possible. She walked down several corridors with her own troubled thoughts before she heard a familiar voice.

"So I said 'lady I don't care if you have a lifetime's experience with this sort of thing, I am a 900 year old Time Lord who is ancient and forever who burns at the center of time and can see the turn of the universe and if you think that doesn't make me more qualified then you can go ahead and get yourself killed, I'm leaving'," said the Doctor out of sight. The Master laughed at that.

"So what happened?" he asked curious.

"Whoosh!" said the Doctor. The Master laughed even harder at that.

"Well let no one ever say the Cybermen are not good for anything," said the Master still chuckling. At this Romana made her appearance to see the Doctor sitting on the edge of a large concrete pot that had several large local plants on it as the Master sat across from him leaned back in a chair with his legs propped on top of the table in front of him.

"Hello Romana," said the Doctor happily as he saw her. The Master looked up at her out of the corner of his eye given his position but said nothing.

"At least be civil," said the Doctor chiding him. The Master groaned.

"President Elect," he grumbled out. The Doctor looked up at Romana helplessly before shrugging.

"It's good to see you after all this time, you look…great," said the Doctor at a loss for words. Romana smiled, slightly flattered.

"Well thank you," she said tucking a short gray hair behind her ear.

"I see she still has her same regeneration as when she left you all those years back whereas you have gone through four since then," commented the Master amused. The Doctor growled.

"Hey, two of those were your fault!" he pointed out. The Master rolled his eyes.

"If you'd been a better opponent or just let me have my way that wouldn't have happened," said the Master with an air of superiority. "Besides, walking out into the middle of a gang fight completely oblivious to what was going on, what were you thinking?"

"I wouldn't have regenerated if Grace had realized I'd had two hearts!" stated the Doctor. The Master shook his head in mock pity.

"I've always told you Earthlings are hopeless," he said. The Doctor groaned at that before turning to Romana.

"Has the Council already reached its decision?" asked the Doctor hopefully as the Master laughed at that statement.

"No, I just wanted to see how you were," said Romana trying to figure out how to separate the two.

"Well I've still got my health," said the Doctor happily.

"For now," commented the Master with a slightly evil smile.

"At least wait until the Council gives up hope on you before you try to start stealing mine again," said the Doctor to his brother.

"Old habits die hard," commented the Master not apologizing. The Doctor waved his statement off and looked up at Romana.

"Why do you ask?" he said.

"You've been through a lot I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay," said Romana.

"I'm touched, really but I'm fine," said the Doctor with a reassuring smile.

"Nevertheless I would like you to get checked up by the local staff. You've missed yours by a good four hundred years," said Romana truthfully. The Doctor nodded.

"Well I have been busy," he explained before stretching his limbs and getting up. "C'mon you, you'd better get an examination as well."

Romana was about to protest the Doctor's wanting to bring his brother along with him when the Master chimed in.

"I'm not having these insolents take even one picture of me, much less a physical," the Master balked. "Besides, Napoleon said 'a strong will can frail a fragile physique' and I believe that with every fiber in my being."

"You remember that when I put you in a retirement home when you're rambling about past victories that never happened," said the Doctor amusedly.

"And you remember that when I am the supreme leader of Gallifrey," the Master shot back before realizing who's company he was with. Romana shot him a dark look but the Master only smiled his evil smile and then the Doctor took Romana by the arm.

"My lady if I could escort you to the examination room," said the Doctor.

"Thank you," said Romana pleased to be able to get the two apart. The two headed off down the corridor.

"Have Doctor Holloway examine you again!" came the Master's voice down the hallway.

"You be quiet Bruce!" shouted the Doctor back at him before turning to Romana. "Always a joker that one."

"Doctor," began Romana slightly put off by the Doctor's nonchalant conversations with his self-coined mortal enemy. "Are you certain you are all right?"

"Romana I'm fine," insisted the Doctor trying to put her concerns at ease. "I have been through a lot over the course of this war, we all have. But I'll find some way to cope with it, as we all will have to someday."

"But threatening to seize control of the war effort and if you don't get your way you'll overthrow the Council…" began Romana concerned. The Doctor looked at her with ancient eyes that seemed to far exceed the age of the body he was currently in.

"They have a saying about desperate times," was all the Doctor said, not apologizing for his actions nor trying to put off her statement with a glib remark. This upset Romana even more as the Doctor seemed to be fully aware of what he was doing and evidently had no second thoughts about it. He may not have been entirely happy about having to make this decision, but he truly believed it had to be made for them all.

"I just hope you know what you're doing," said Romana finally. "I don't want to see this war turn you into something you're not."

The Doctor nodded lightly. "I'll try my best but…I'm afraid I cannot promise you anything. If I were, it would be a lie."

Romana nodded with saddened eyes at that, the war was turning them all into mere shadows of their former selves. The Doctor was her rock though; still her former teacher and friend, and she needed him more than ever in these desperate times. Together the two walked off down the hallway but behind them, in the darkness, the Master stood watching with cold, calculating eyes.

Later: The Doctor and Romana parted ways after his examination that revealed that he was perfectly alright and the genuine article and not being mind controlled either. None of this did much to ease Romana's concerns and she was so deep in thought that she did not notice the Master standing in her path before she nearly ran into him. As soon as she did, she recoiled, partially startled at the presence of the renegade Time Lord and constant thorn in the High Council's side.

"If you've come here to kill me then you're sadly mistaken," said Romana immediately trying both to draw out their conversation and find out his true intentions.

"If I were here to kill you, you would already be dead," said the Master harshly. "I would never reveal myself in a plan such as that. But do not make the mistake of thinking that by confronting you in the open I do not have such plans in reserve."

"Then what is it you want?" said Romana, greatly disturbed by the Master's openness to her.

"I want you to leave my brother alone," answered the Time Lord. Romana looked up at him angrily.

"Why? Is him being with me affecting your control over him?" demanded Romana. The Master tried to refrain from breaking into a smile but slowly he did and then he began chuckling, and then outright laughing, a cross between amused and maniacal laughter.

"You naïve fool," said the Master. "I don't need to do anything; the Doctor has already made his decision I am just here to witness it happen."

"It's not who he is," said Romana shaking her head. "The Doctor is a shining beacon of hope and everything that is good in this universe. He is our resistance against Pandora's box."

"The difference between good and evil is just a point of view," said the Master crossing his arms. "But it should not be clouded by others biased points of view."

Romana looked up at him sharply. "Then you should ask yourself this then. Could you live with yourself if _he_ became like _you_?"

Romana didn't wait for the answer she just left, leaving the Time Lord alone with his thoughts in the middle of that vacant corridor.

High Council Chambers: The Doctor and the Master stood before the Council each awaiting their final decision.

"It was not easy to come to this choice and it required quite some deliberation but…" began the Council Leader reluctantly before trailing off.

"Yes?" asked the Doctor leaning forward in anticipation.

"The fleet is yours," said the Council Man defeated.

"Excellent," said the Doctor as a conspiratorial grin spread across his face as he stood back up. "You will not regret this I assure you. Let's go."

The Doctor spun around and immediately headed for the exit, but the Master hesitated for a moment. He then looked up at Romana briefly, gave a slight almost imperceptible nod, and followed him. What the nod meant, Romana wasn't entirely sure, but at least he had nodded and that at least meant something.

Outside, the Doctor and the Master walked side by side down the hallway in muted silence. In front of them, the cluster of individuals waiting outside spread apart as if a living sea were parting. The two continued onwards each with their minds set on ending this war and to the rest of the Time Lords, they knew.

The tide of the war was about to change.

_And so the war once again exploded. Daleks vs. Time Lords, Deadsmiths of Goth vs. Bowships, planet vs. planet, galaxy vs. galaxy, universe vs. itself. Time wasn't just a one way street, it was a weapon. Planets weren't destroyed, they ceased to exist. Entire cityscapes vanished leaving nothing but wooded forests in their place. Any space faring civilization that stumbled upon these worlds would assume they had never seen the mark of any advanced civilization. But they would have been wrong. It was just that they existed on a lower plane of existence, one that did not see the effects of the Time War going on. But to the higher species, they knew because they saw it happen. But they were powerless to stop it and so they either died or vanished._

_But none of this mattered to the Doctor or the Master. Worlds would fall, they knew that. These were…'acceptable' losses, the Master said. If you tried to save everyone you would fail so you only saved those who could help you and it they couldn't, you attacked the Daleks elsewhere when they were busy attacking those worlds. It wasn't the perfect plan, but the Time Lords were desperate._

_But at some point, the Doctor slipped._

_No one is really sure when it first happened, and if they did they'd be dead as all the Time Lords now are, but it did happen. Over time, the Doctor's hair got shorter and shorter until he finally cut it, something Time Lords never did because their bodies aged very slowly and by the time such things would've been necessary they'd have regenerated by then anyway, so it was now as short as it ever been amongst his previous incarnations. His wardrobe had changed as well. His suit jacket was gone in favor of a large black overcoat and his face was now covered with a pair of dark sunglasses._

_But it wasn't just his outward appearance, his demeanor had changed as well. The Doctor had become more withdrawn, less energetic. Instead of happy recollections of his past, it was replaced with cold calculations about the future. After watching countless species fall by the hammer, he had somehow stopped caring. He could no longer see the species behind the numbers, all he saw _were_ the numbers. It didn't matter if he had visited that world a thousand times and had grown to love it there, or if they people there hated him, all he cared about was how it would benefit the Time Lords. All the other races could be damned for all he cared, only his species mattered and that when it was done, the Daleks were wiped from existence. Anything other than that were the thoughts of cowards._

_And by his side, the Master watched his slip into darkness. He knew the signs, he had seen it in himself all of those years ago, but the Doctor…the Doctor was oblivious to it all. At any other time in the past, the Master would gladly had welcomed this change and would have used this darker Doctor by manipulating him into doing things to benefit the Master. But now, the Master found that he could not. He too had changed as a result of this war, he had seen all the destruction that had been caused by this War and he knew that if any of his plans had not been thwarted by the Doctor then this would likely have been the end result._

_But it wasn't just this fear of the danger of his actions that stopped him it was also the result of his own experiences. The President Lady Romana had ultimately been right that day, all those years ago, the Master could not live with himself if the Doctor became like him. If the Doctor became like him, then the Doctor would become the Valeyard, and that was a nightmare even the Master was had no desire to face again. The Valeyard was the Time Lord who was the prosecutor for the Doctor when he had been put on trial by the High Council for violating temporal laws. But what the Doctor had not realized was that the Valeyard was no more than himself. He was a Doctor gone rotten, the ultimate amalgamation of evil, and he was beyond redemption. It had taken the Master almost the entire trial to piece together who the Valeyard really was and when it did he was left utterly speechless. Throughout all of their encounters, he had only seen the Doctor fall to this darkness but once. On a Planet of Fire, during the Doctor's fifth incarnation, he had willingly watched the Master burn for all the crimes he had committed. The look on the Doctor's face then was the same that he constantly saw on the Valeyard. But for the Doctor it had just been a one time mistake, to see this living disease of a man who was the point between the Doctor's twelfth and final incarnation sent shivers down the Time Lord's spine. If the Doctor went permanently evil than the entire multiverse would be blown away if he so chose for it to. _

_And so the Master had teamed up with the Doctor to face his future brother, and the latter's later self. They had won, just barely, and the Master knew that he could never afford to encounter the Valeyard again because this Doctor would likely not hesitate to kill him at a moment's notice and end all of his plans. But now the Valeyard had returned and the Doctor was completely oblivious to it._

_And then the dam burst and the Master had no choice but to do something about it…_

Sarn: The Doctor and the Master were deep in the heart of a massive volcano, at a geothermal station left over from a species called the Trions. It was a strange setting to be formulating plans but the Doctor said since the planet was long since abandoned it would give him room to think. The Master of course thought otherwise given their history on this world. But he wasn't about to so show any signs of weakness so he agreed to use this place as their base of operations though he did have to question if the Doctor had any real motives behind choosing this place…

At any rate, that was where they were now and the Master was watching the Doctor pace back and forth.

"Well we could…but no…on the other hand," said the Doctor musing to himself. The Master was also waiting for the newest reports of where the Dalek fleet was headed, so what it was the Doctor was rambling about he had no idea.

"_Maybe he has finally and truly gone mad_," the Master wondered. If that was the case then he had to do something about it and soon.

"Something the matter?" asked the Doctor breaking his line of thought.

"…Maybe," said the Master noncommittally.

"You know old friend if you have something on your mind you may as well get it out in the open now rather than later," said the Doctor wryly with a slight grin on his face. "I realize I may not be able to offer you much consolation, but at least getting your concerns out into the open might help you at least recognize them."

The Master was very disturbed at the Doctor using his earlier words against him. "I didn't realize you were a doctor of psychology."

"I am many things," answered the Doctor with a disturbing grin. Before the Master could say any more, a nearby device began printing a readout of the war effort being transmitted from Gallifrey through the TARDIS and to the machine.

"What's it say?" asked the Doctor curious. The Master read it over and looked up at the Doctor to gauge the reaction on what he was about to say.

"The Dalek fleet is heading to the planet Norehca via the Sol System," he answered. The Doctor pondered this for a few moments.

"I don't know, do you think Norecha is worth saving?" asked the Doctor. "They're not that important but on the other hand there have been rumors of polycarbide being buried deep below the surface. The Daleks may be acting on this because let's face it Norecha is tech level 2 at the best. You know what let's do nothing because even if there is any polycarbide it won't be enough to make much of a difference. While they're attacking that planet we can wipe out their foothold in the Argonis System."

The Master looked at him wordlessly and just blinked.

"What?" asked the Doctor clearly confused.

"What about the Sol System?" asked the Master.

"What about it?" asked the Doctor.

"Isn't it worth saving?" asked the Master. "If the Daleks do go through there they will destroy it."

"Your point being?" asked the Doctor not clear where he was going with this.

"Doctor, Earth is there," said the Master astonished that he was making this point.

"You've never cared about Earth, why are you starting now?" asked the Doctor bewildered.

"When did you stop caring about Earth?" shot back the Master.

"It's just a planet," said the Doctor shrugging off his statement. "They come and go all the time."

"I don't believe I'm hearing this," said the Master speechless.

"Well the feeling is mutual," said the Doctor becoming increasingly annoyed with the Master. "I just don't see why you care about Earth."

"I don't give a damn about the Earth," answered the Master. "But you always have. You have protected the Earth against everything that's come against it, Daleks, Sontarans, Cybermen, Yetis, the list goes on. Hell you were exiled there for a good portion of your third self!"

"So?" asked the Doctor as anger began boiling through him at having his orders being questioned and now being psychoanalyzed by his brother. The Master looked at him through narrowed eyes.

"If you allow the Earth to be destroyed then you will have stepped across a threshold that you will not be able to return from," the Master swore. "I will _not_ allow that to happen, the consequences would be disastrous for all of us. I will not allow Earth to be destroyed."

The Doctor turned away from him and simmered slowly. "You're not going to back down?" he questioned. The Master visibly gulped at this, the tone the Doctor had taken when he made that statement scared even him. But if he became who the Master feared he would then he had to make a stand here and now.

"Yes it is," he said barely keeping his voice together. There was a flash and the Master found himself slamming against the Trion Console behind him. The Master rubbed his jaw as he looked up confused and saw the Doctor's fist in the place where his face had been.

"What was that for?" he demanded. The Doctor looked at him seemingly impassively through his darkened sunglasses.

"**If you're not with me**," he growled. "**Then you're my enemy**!"

The Doctor yanked off his glasses and the Master saw in his eyes what he had feared all along. The eyes that looked back at him were not the Doctor's, they were the Valeyard's.

"Funny I thought that was my line," commented the Master as he lightly chuckled to himself as he picked himself up off the ground.

"If it was it will be your last," responded the Doctor assuming a fighting pose as the blue numismaton gas behind erupted into its deadly flaming form.

"You would fight me?" asked the Master both slightly incredulous but also to give him time to collect himself for the coming battle.

"Gladly," said the Doctor as an evil grin spread across his face. "I have wanted to see your destruction for a long time now."

The Master nodded gravelly, taking this all in before asking. "Where is my brother?"

"Dead," responded the other Time Lord. "He's been gone for a long time now. He was dying long before you showed up and this War has seen the end of him."

"Then I will stop you," decided the Master. "And I will find my friend."

"You will try," responded the Doctor doubtful. "But you _won't_ find him and you'll die trying."

"We'll see," answered the Master certain that whatever happened, he would gladly die in the hope of destroying the Valeyard in the process and bringing back the Doctor. He had to do it soon too because having morally switched places with the Doctor was doing just as much damage to his psyche as the Valeyard was to the Doctor. The Master had been fortunate to have never confronted _his_ version of the Valeyard and it was just as well. If he had, he would've killed him on the spot.

"So I guess we'd better get down to it then," said the Doctor…no, the Valeyard the Master amended, to his 'former' brother.

"Yes, I guess we should," answered the Master as his trembling fists clenched up and then the Master achieved an air of calm and his hands steadied.

And then the Master and the Valeyard launched themselves at each other. Their two punches gave a sickening thud that echoed across the underground chamber. The Master held his jaw in pain from the blow the Valeyard had given him as the Doctor lightly stroked his own jaw.

"Is that the best you've got?" he questioned. "Because if it is you may as well give up now and preserve what little is left of your pride."

"You always were full of hot air," the Master growled. "You would always talk and talk but when it came down to it you would never finish the damn job!"

The Valeyard began chuckling at that before laughing maniacally to himself.

"You ignorant fool," he said. "My talking is the only reason you're still alive! I could have killed you so many times that you would have been dead a thousand times over by now. But my weaker former self still held out hope that you _could_ be saved. He was a fool and a coward. You said it yourself, you can't be saved, and so you'll just have to be eliminated."

The Valeyard rushed the Master and slammed his knee into his stomach before slamming him over the back with his clasped fists. The Master fell to the ground in pain before the Doctor kicked him again hard in the side.

"Kicking a man while he's down?" coughed the Master in pain. "You always were a coward."

"Well I'd rather be a genuine coward then a failed braggart," said the Valeyard looming over him. "Because for all that talk I've made, at least _I' ve_ managed to fulfill my promises. But you…you've done nothing but boast about things that you never accomplish. So which of us really is worse?"

The Master swung out with his leg and knocked the Valeyard off of his feet as he came crashing down into another piece of Trion equipment.

"I may be a braggart," the Master admitted struggling to his feet. "But at least I have the conviction to do what needs to be done. You should have killed Davros, you should have killed the Daleks, you should have killed the Cybermen, and you should have killed me. But you didn't, because your morals are your one true weakness. If the Time Lords had sent me to stop the genesis of the daleks, I would have succeeded!"

"No," said the Valeyard also hauling himself to his feet. "You would have joined Davros and then you both would have been exterminated."

"At least I would have done something!" the Master shouted. "You always debate every possible action with every decision you make and by the time you make that decision the moment for action has passed! At least I can choose, rightly or wrongly, and deal with the consequences of that decision. But you can't and that makes me better than you!"

The Valeyard roared at that comment and tackled the Master as both went tumbling out of the exit to the room and emerged on the slope of the volcano that was rapidly spewing out fire. The Master quickly pushed himself up off the scalding hot ground and looked up at the Doctor who was standing there like a demon out of hell as his massive overcoat blew about in the wind behind him as the fire in the background seemed to encompass his entire being.

"Better?" the Valeyard shouted astonished. "You want to talk about better? I was always better! I was the best student with the roentgen blocks back in nursery school, I was the best in boarding school, and I was the best at the Academy! But you were always second, behind me at everything and always copying me too! I was the one who stole a TARDIS first, I was the one who rebelled against the Time Lords first, and I was the first one to explore the universe! That was why father always loved me best!"

"Father?!?!" shouted the Master bending over in laughter as his gut hurt from both the action and the pain he had already received. "Father was a pre-programmed Gallifreyan machine designed to raise us, he didn't care for either of us!"

"That's not true!" responded the Valeyard. "I know that he loved me!"

"That's another one of your weaknesses Doctor!" shouted the Master as the volcano began shaking from an intense buildup of pressure. "I may be delusional by nature but you're delusional by choice!"

The Valeyard slowly made his way down the mountain towards him before hoisting him up by collar.

"I AM NOT THE DOCTOR!" he roared before letting go of the Master's collar causing the Time Lord to fall down to the ground again.

"You may have convinced yourself of that but you'll never convince me," the Master swore as his body began to burn from the volcano's power. "I know the real you, the one on Logopolis who said of me 'He's a Time Lord. In many ways, we have the same mind'. You and I are the same!"

"We're nothing alike," said the Valeyard dismissively as he once more approached the Master. "And soon I will be the only member of this dysfunctional family. Take that to oblivion."

The Master punched the Valeyard in the gut before the Valeyard lashed out with his foot causing the Master to fall flat on his back before the other Time Lord grabbed his leg and began dragging him the last few feet to the lip of the volcano. Then with superhuman strength he grabbed the Master by the throat and picked him up into the air before dropping him so his head was directly over the edge. And then the Valeyard descended on him and began choking the life out of him.

"I'll bet you wish you had that cheetah virus now," said the Valeyard ruefully. "Then you could have just transported your way out of here."

A look of realization hit the Master with that statement. The Time Lord then rammed his elbow underneath his brother's jaw and it flung the Valeyard off of him.

"Don't you understand?" the Master said through his very sore throat. "If we stay here and fight, we'll destroy ourselves!"

"Whatever it takes!" shouted the Valeyard as he once again began choking the Master. The Master knew he had one card left to play as he slowly began blacking out from lack of air and he had to play it now.

"If we fight like animals, we'll die like animals!" he shouted as the Valeyard blinked at that statement as if it had triggered some deep down buried memory. "Can you live with yourself if you allow that to happen…Valeyard?"

The Doctor ripped himself off of the Master at hearing that word and stood straight up staring off into the distance deep in shock.

"_Rassilon_," he thought stunned. The Doctor's mind raged as if trying to fight a massive darkened shroud that had covered it. In his mind, his old enemies were standing around a mental projection of himself, wanting to drag him further into the darkness forever.

"DIE DOC-TOR!" shouted a Dalek.

"You will perish, just like the Rutan Hosts!" shouted the Sontaran.

"You will be deleted!" shouted a Cyberman.

"No!!!" shouted the Doctor as the trio converged on him. He bent down on his knees and covered his ears as he braced himself for their onslaught.

"DOCTOR!" shouted a familiar voice from above cutting through the darkness. "Give me your hand!"

A gigantic hand tore through the darkness above him and grabbed the Doctor's body lifting him straight up into the light. The Doctor immediately found himself standing on a ledge just below the lip of the volcano and directly above the lava inside the crater, having no idea how he'd gotten there.

"Doctor, give me your hand!" demanded the Master directly above him leaning over the edge as best he could without falling over with his arm outstretched. The Doctor looked up at him shocked before looking down at the lava.

"What are you waiting for?" demanded the Master.

"I-I-I," the Doctor stammered unsure what to do. On the one had he didn't want to die but on the other he couldn't forgive himself for what he had done to his brother or during the Time War.

"Doctor if you even think about jumping I'll kill you myself!" swore the Master. The Doctor smiled lightly at that.

"I guess it's hard to argue with that kind of logic," he said with a mild grin. And then he grabbed hold of the Master's hand as the Time Lord struggled to pull him up.

"I always told you those jelly babies were making you too fat," the Master grunted as he pulled the Doctor up slowly but surely. Finally after much laborious pulling, the Doctor and the Master both collapsed exhausted at the top of the crater.

"Thank you old friend, once again you have saved me," said the Doctor grateful as he coughed up some smoke.

"Don't get your hopes up," said the Master lightly as he looked up at the shining sun. "If you died I'd never get your regenerations. Then I'd have to face the Council and the War Effort myself and be responsible for saving billions. I'm not willing to accept that kind of responsibility."

"Maybe," the Doctor mused. "But I know that you're lying."

The Master sat up and looked at him. "And how do you figure that?"

The Doctor smiled. "Because when you last saved me from the Valeyard you swore it'd never happen again. But it has, so maybe there's some hope for you yet."

"Always the optimist," said the Master shaking his head though still pleased that the Doctor had returned, as irritating as that was.

"Well one of us has to be in this dysfunctional family," said the Doctor before he reflected on that statement.

"Do you hate me?" he asked sadly. The Master sighed at that.

"Yes, yes I do," he answered with just a hint of sadness.

"For the reasons I mentioned?" asked the Doctor as his eyes became downtrodden at hearing that. He hadn't meant to say the things he had, but they had to have come from somewhere.

"That," admitted the Master. "And one more you failed to mention. As you are so keen to point out, much to my chagrin, we are family. And you're right, blood _is_ thicker than water. Every time our paths have crossed, every time you have shown disapproval at my actions, every time we have fought, in some little extent it has…hurt me. I don't like that feeling, I don't like that weakness. When I finish you off then I will no longer have to worry about anything coming in the way of my plans."

"But like you said, 'we're the same'," stated the Doctor. "If you kill me, you'll destroy yourself."

"That may be," the Master conceded. "But I can make that decision and live with it."

The Doctor nodded and the two sat in silence each accepting that fact.

"So what now?" asked the Master.

"Well we save Earth for one," said the Doctor. "And then we end the war, right this time."

The Master nodded before a massive shadow blotted out the sun. Looking up, a massive Dalek saucer soared by overhead before landing at the base of the mountain.

"Circumstances permitting of course," said the Doctor bemused as he cracked his knuckles and stood up. The Master smiled his evil grin as the Doctor offered to help him up. The Master grabbed his hand the two brushed themselves off before heading down the mountain.

"I always knew I'd get the chance for you to accept my offer of help," said the Doctor amused.

"Oh do shut up brother," said the Master with a mild grin. The two advanced down the mountain determined towards the Dalek Saucer as the volcano erupted behind them.

_And despite it all the Time War raged but that is a story best left for another day._


End file.
